Difference between revisions of "Material/Intro"
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Extracting these plentiful elements and creating useful materials just involves [[Fundamental resources/Energy|energy]], which is also massively abundant, and the right processing methods. From a technical point of view there is practically no limit to the volume of material we could extract and make use of if we so wished. The point is that the reserves of raw material needed to sustain civilisation are not going to run out (the entire {{wp|Lithosphere|Earth's crust}} is made up of them) and any material scarcity actually has little to do with the reserves at our disposal. | Extracting these plentiful elements and creating useful materials just involves [[Fundamental resources/Energy|energy]], which is also massively abundant, and the right processing methods. From a technical point of view there is practically no limit to the volume of material we could extract and make use of if we so wished. The point is that the reserves of raw material needed to sustain civilisation are not going to run out (the entire {{wp|Lithosphere|Earth's crust}} is made up of them) and any material scarcity actually has little to do with the reserves at our disposal. | ||
| − | There is little dispute that fossil fuel is a limited resource but as an energy source there are vastly more plentiful | + | There is little dispute that fossil fuel is a limited resource but as an energy source there are vastly more plentiful and greener [[Fundamental resources/Energy|energy sources]] available; and as a feedstock for plastics and many other useful petrochemical derived materials, renewable biomass can replace crude oil. The current heavy use of fossil fuel is due to convenience and the fact that current economics make the alternatives appear less viable in comparison. However 'economics' distorts the view of what is possible and simply dictates what is easier when working within the current framework that we have inherited from recent centuries. |
Of course no sensible person would advocate being wasteful just because material and energy are plentiful, and our impact on the biosphere must be considered; however an important trend in technological progress is the tendency of products, and manufacturing processes, to steadily become more efficient {{en}} {{wp|Ephemeralization|doing more with less}}. | Of course no sensible person would advocate being wasteful just because material and energy are plentiful, and our impact on the biosphere must be considered; however an important trend in technological progress is the tendency of products, and manufacturing processes, to steadily become more efficient {{en}} {{wp|Ephemeralization|doing more with less}}. | ||
Revision as of 20:55, 26 July 2007
Extracting these plentiful elements and creating useful materials just involves energy, which is also massively abundant, and the right processing methods. From a technical point of view there is practically no limit to the volume of material we could extract and make use of if we so wished. The point is that the reserves of raw material needed to sustain civilisation are not going to run out (the entire Earth's crust 
is made up of them) and any material scarcity actually has little to do with the reserves at our disposal.
There is little dispute that fossil fuel is a limited resource but as an energy source there are vastly more plentiful and greener energy sources available; and as a feedstock for plastics and many other useful petrochemical derived materials, renewable biomass can replace crude oil. The current heavy use of fossil fuel is due to convenience and the fact that current economics make the alternatives appear less viable in comparison. However 'economics' distorts the view of what is possible and simply dictates what is easier when working within the current framework that we have inherited from recent centuries.
Of course no sensible person would advocate being wasteful just because material and energy are plentiful, and our impact on the biosphere must be considered; however an important trend in technological progress is the tendency of products, and manufacturing processes, to steadily become more efficient – doing more with less .
